Professor of political economy and one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) front-runners in the race for 2019 governorship of Delta State Pat Utomi has denied reports in the media of his admission the APC has derailed from its vision.

A number of online media platforms published reports that Utomi’s campaign organisation said was completely different from his description of how the APC was founded and its performance.

A few of the reports claimed that Utomi said that the ruling party “has disappointed many by failing to live up to expectations.”

But Utomi has disputed the claims.

“I never spoke to any Daily Post journalist in Abuja, the story does not reflect my views in any way and the headline caption of the story is an imagination of the writer,” Utomi said in a statement, adding that as a founding member of the party he has always strived hard to uplift the ideals of the party.

The online reports, according to Leonard Obibi of Pat Utomi Support Hub (PUSH), such reports were aimed at discrediting the professor.

“It shows how fast some people can resort to arm-chair journalism to gain attention, and at the same time try to do some damage to the credibility of an honest man,” said Obibi.

Utomi recently inaugurated a Think-tank for the rescue of Delta State, and when asked by a reporter recalled how the APC was founded and nurtured eventually into a ruling party.

He spoke in the presence of a collection of high profile personalities at the event including renowned economist and Central Banker, Victor Odozi and Engr. Moses Kragha, the chairman of the inaugurated Think-Tank.

The founding of the APC, Utomi recalled, began with the Concerned Professionals who formed a political party by taking over the ADC. According to him, the process gained momentum when Late Chief Anthony Enahoro (the first person to move a motion for Nigeria’s independence in 1953) began a process of uniting the ‘progressives’ who hold strong positives views of Nigeria’s political future.

He said likes of Olu Falae and a host of other notable technocrats including Utomi worked tirelessly together to move the idea forward.

He noted that the idea stalled for a while until Asiwaju Bola Tinubu prodded Utomi to resurrect it and that was when they made contact with President Muhammadu Buhari and in the end APC was born.